Independent Women - the Complete BWWM Romance Series Boxset Read online

  Kalena was about ten minutes away when her phone rang. It was Tamika.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey girl, what are you doing?”

  “Nothing major, about to meet someone for lunch.”

  “Oh, okay. Will you have time to talk to me before we meet up with Crystal and her guy tonight?”

  “Umm, yeah, but why?”

  “Nothing major, I just need to talk to you.”

  “Okay. Come by my place by five, we can talk, and then leave together.”

  “That sounds like a plan, so who are you going to lunch with?”

  “I’m not telling you.”

  “Come on, you know you can’t hide anything from me.”

  “I’ll tell you later, right now I just want to go out and have a good time.”

  “Okay, but I’m going to hold you to it.”

  “Bye girl.”

  “See you soon.”

  *

  Kalena didn’t know what she was enjoying more, the company or the food. Joseph was every bit of the gentleman that she remembered him to be and he was still looking as good as ever.

  “Thanks for coming to lunch with me, even though you were trying to get out of it.”

  “What?”

  “I’m just saying, you tried to weasel your way out of our date by saying that you were busy this evening. It almost hurt my feelings, but I had a backup plan and I’m persistent.”

  “Oh please, I didn’t hurt your feelings. Besides, you said that you were busy this evening remember?”

  “True but you didn’t know that, and I never said that our date had to be at night. I just asked if you would come out with me.”

  “Okay, you may have a point but I assumed that you meant in the evening. That’s when most dates occur, smart ass.”

  “Feisty, I like it.”

  “Well there is a lot more where that comes from.”

  “Good, I was hoping so.”

  Kalena shook her head and laughed. It felt good to be in his company. She needed a day out with a man that she genuinely liked. It was long overdue. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

  “Well, I have some ideas,” he said before he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  Kalena’s eyes widened in with fake surprise, “Oh my.”

  “Too soon, huh?”

  “Maybe a little, you’re lucky that I’m a forgiving person.”

  “I sure am. But since you’re already in a forgiving mood, I’m going to go ahead and add this to my bill.” Joseph leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Kalena lit up from the inside out.

  “You are just too cute, and I forgive you for that too.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am.”

  They shared a desert and ordered some drinks. An hour and a half later, their lunch date was starting to wind down.

  “So you’re a preacher’s daughter?” Joseph asked.

  “I am.”

  “Like he has his own church?”

  “He does, in Rochester, New York.”

  “How long?”

  “Since before I was born.”

  “So is it true?”

  “Is what true?”

  “That preacher’s kids are wilder.”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve never been any better or worse than anyone else. It just seems like when I mess up, everything is amplified. Preachers’ kids are held to a higher standard because they’re jealous.”

  “I’ve never heard that explanation before.”

  Kalena adjusted in her seat, trying to find the best words to convey what she wanted to say. Being a PK was a huge part of who she was, although she tried to hide it. She hadn’t been to church since she graduated from college and she didn’t miss it one bit. She didn’t have to depend on her parents for anything and they could no longer make her feel guilty.

  Kalena still believed in God, but she felt done with all of the church drama. She didn’t trust most of the men that preached the word of God and the women were entirely too catty. They all back-stabbed one another and competed with each other. She was over all of it and she chose to be spiritual and to stay away from the crazies.

  Her father and mother still called her and tried to get her to come to the church. Whenever she went home, she stayed in a hotel because her parents would try and make her attend services. They could be a bit old school and they believed that if they went to church on Sunday, everyone in their house should go. She respected their rules and she decided not to stay in their home. She loved her parents with all of her heart but she found their dysfunctional relationship to be intolerable. It was a known fact that her father had been sleeping with one of the women in the church for years, and her mom chose to never acknowledge it.

  Kalena finally began to explain what she meant to Joseph, “A lot of the women in the church want to be the “first family.” To be quite honest, a lot of them want my dad. Those that can’t have him take a lot of shots at his kids. Everyone is just waiting on us to fuck up so that they can point the finger and laugh. People want to feel better than those that they obsess over. I hated it.”

  “How big is the congregation?”

  “It’s about 600 now.”

  “Wow, your dad is doing the damned thing.”

  “Yeah, I guess. It’s not a small church, but it’s not a mega church either. When I was little, we only had about 30 people, so it’s pretty interesting to see the growth.”

  “You seem to have a pretty good head on your shoulders. Glad you didn’t let it make you bitter.”

  Kalena gave him a smile and she was impressed because he was genuinely trying to get to know her. He could have kept down the sexual path of questioning, but he took it in another direction. She appreciated it because usually men just wanted to know if she was freaky or not and all about what she did or didn’t do in the bedroom. Kalena wasn’t a prude, but she wasn’t a “ ‘ho either.

  Kalena and Joseph wrapped their date up and he walked her outside to catch a cab.

  “Are you sure that you don’t want me to give you a ride home? I’m parked two blocks down.”

  “I’m sure but thank you so much for offering.”

  He took out $40 and placed it in her hand, “At least let me pay for the cab.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I know that I don’t have to do it, but I want to, so please let me.”

  His words shut down her protest, “Thank you.”

  Joseph hailed a cab for her and opened the door, “You’ve made my day today.”

  “I’m glad to be of service. Thank you for lunch.”

  He gently cupped her chin and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before he looked into her eyes. Kalena felt an instant spark of electricity and kissed him again. The kiss got more passionate and she felt it down to her toes. Joseph pulled away and smiled. “Let’s get you out of here before this turns into a different date.”

  “Mmmhmm, I guess I’ll be seeing you later.”

  “You most definitely will.”

  Kalena got into the cab and he closed the door behind her. They grinned at each other like idiots until the cab pulled away. He’d made her day too.

  *

  Tamika was already at Kalena’s house when Kalena’s cab pulled up. She’d found a parking spot and had been sitting in her car for over an hour waiting and she didn’t mind. She was happy to be out of the house and it gave her time to think. She watched as Kalena practically floated to her front door, and she felt mildly jealous. She then realized that she didn’t have the right to be jealous. She’d made her decisions and she had to live with them. Sometimes she wished that she was single and that she could just date again. She’d never truly dated in her life. She met her husband when she was 18 and it was all about him, at least it used to be.

  She got out of her car and caught up with Kalena at her front door, “Hey!”

  “Damn! Girl, you scared the hell out of me. How long have you been here?”

&n
bsp; “Not that long, just got here not too long ago so you’re right on time.”

  “Cool.”

  Kalena opened the doors and they took the elevator up to her place. They walked into her place and Tamika sighed. It was sad when her friend’s house felt more like home than her own. She made her way to Kalena’s huge Papa San chair and relaxed.

  “Tired?” Kalena asked.

  “A little, work has been kicking my butt but I don’t mind.”

  Kalena took off her coat and took a seat on the couch. She still had that dreamy look on her face.

  “What are you smiling about? How was your date?” Tamika asked.

  “My date was pretty great.”

  “What does he look like? Ooh, was he chocolate or caramel?”

  “What?”

  “Sorry, I just know you love your chocolate Kalena.”

  Kalena looked at her in confusion and then rethought her decision to tell her that he was white. She wasn’t sure how she would react and she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. If she told her that he was white, then they would have to have a huge conversation about it and she didn’t want it to be based on his race. If he stuck around long enough to meet her friends she would tell them then. As for now, it was none of their business.

  “Yeah he’s chocolate,” Kalena lied. ‘White chocolate’, she thought to herself.

  “Nice.”

  “The bottom line is that he’s nice and that we had a good time. So what’s up with you?” Kalena wanted to change the subject as soon as she could.

  Tamika took a huge sigh, “Remember when you told me not to keep anything from you?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, I have something else to tell and it’s kind of a really big deal.”

  “Do I need wine to hear this?”

  “No, but you may need a cigarette.”

  “You and Reggie are back at it?” Kalena asked while making obscene gestures that signified sex.

  “ I wish that I could say yes but that’s not the case.”

  “Oh?”

  “I fucked Jin,” Tamika said quickly as she shielded her face behind her hands.

  “You slept with Jin? Holy shit, Tamika! What happened? When did this happen? Are you okay? Was it good? Does Reggie know?”

  “I don’t know which question to answer first. What I will say is that I don’t regret sleeping with him. Sleeping with him made me realize that most of my bad feelings towards Reggie was just sexual frustration.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “I love Reggie and I’m going to put more effort into our relationship. I’m not going to just write him off, he’s my husband and my marriage deserves an honest try.”

  “So what happens the next time that you feel frustrated?”

  “That’s not going to happen. I’m not going to give in to my urges like that again. All I can do is move forward and make better decisions, you know?”

  “So how does Jin feel about it never happening again?”

  “I’m pretty sure that he’ll be fine with it. It’s a one-time thing and it was in the heat of the moment. He’s smart enough to know that.”

  “Okay,” Kalena said as if she didn’t believe her.

  “I’m serious.”

  “I know you’re serious. I just think that you should be careful.”

  Tamika shrugged. She knew what she was doing and she couldn’t be too concerned about the past. She and Jin had a wonderful evening and things would be okay. They had to be.

  #Chapter8

  “I see that I have been replaced...”

  Reggie

  A few days later Tamika had just got off the phone with a potential candidate. She was truly enjoying the new company that she was working with. They were very specific about the qualifications that they wanted and she enjoyed a good hunt. She was doing a damned good job so far and was quite pleased with herself.

  “Hey girly, we’re going to head down the street to lunch if you want to come,” Samantha said after she poked her head in the door of Tamika’s office.

  “Thanks girl, but I have a lot to get done. I’m going to work through my lunch today.”

  “I don’t know why I ask you anymore, you never say yes. I swear, you are the hardest working woman in the building.

  Tamika fake-pouted, “Sorry, Samantha, I’m just doing my best to show my team spirit. I’ve got goals, ya know.”

  “Okay suit yourself.”

  Samantha walked away and Tamika didn’t miss her. In fact, she had never truly been a big fan of hers. Samantha was a huge gossip and she was always in someone’s business. The only reason she had the job was because her brother worked there too. It was nepotism at its finest. Tamika wasn’t fooled. There was no way that she as a black woman could get away with the shit that Samantha did on the weekly basis.

  Samantha would show up late, call clients late, and procrastinate. It was downright disgusting and she thought that she knew everything about everybody. It was a miracle that she got any work done at all.

  Tamika pulled her list of places that deliver out of her drawer and she tried to decide what she wanted. She had a ton of options and her indecisiveness was getting on her own nerves. A slight knock on her door caught her attention. It was Jin.

  He gave a slight smile, “Are you busy?”

  She motioned at her desk that was covered by menus, “If this counts as busy, I am.”

  “Do you have time to discuss another project with me?”

  “Wow, I get another?”

  “Only if you can handle it.”

  “I definitely can.”

  Jin cleared his throat and shifted his weight to his other foot before he took a seat. “We have a huge client that is in need of a managing editor. We know that if they love our candidates they’re going to give us the rest of their business. They have almost an entire staff that they need to fill. They’re moving their headquarters from Chicago to here and only 20% of their staff is migrating with them.”

  “Whoa,” Tamika said. All she could see was dollar signs. She couldn’t wait to negotiate those salaries.

  “I know.”

  “I’m so in.”

  “Cool, it looks like we’re putting you and Samantha on the project.”

  Tamika couldn’t hide the roll of her eyes, “Umm okay.”

  “Then it’s settled.”

  “Looking forward to getting started, I won’t let you down.”

  Jin looked uncomfortable, but he was determined to ask the hard question. “So are we ever going to discuss the other night?”

  Tamika’s stomach plummeted; she didn’t know what to say. For the first time she began to feel a little embarrassed about what happened between the two of them. She wondered if he was going to ask her for a relationship, or if he was going to want to continue what they started. Neither option was on the table and she wanted to avoid any unpleasantness.

  “Jin, I’m sorry but there isn’t really much to say. I’m a married woman and it can’t happen again. I don’t regret it, it was really, really good but it’s over.”

  Disappointment flooded his face. Tamika was a little surprised; she figured that a one-night stand was every man’s dream. Tamika wasn’t going to pressure him for anything deeper, he got to cum, and so it seemed like a winning situation to her. However, his face wasn’t reflecting her thoughts.

  “Okay, I’m sorry,” Jin apologized, “I won’t bring it up again.”

  “That’s good because I love my husband and I don’t want to do anything to mess it up. I don’t want to lose my marriage over an office fling. I hope you understand.”

  Jin stood to his feet, “Completely.”

  *

  Meanwhile, Tamika's husband Reggie was sitting in Starbucks, tinkering away at the keys on his laptop. He hated job hunting and having to do phone interviews in his car. His hands were shaking and he needed a drink. He’d just gotten off the phone with his lawyer. The partner that he punched was thinking a
bout pressing charges. He thought it was bullshit because the incident happened over three months before. Why couldn’t the dude just get the fuck over it? He’d already blackballed him, wasn’t that enough?